Pull Thomas Pull

We went on our little trip to Cordele, Georgia this morning for Day Out With Thomas. Sam and Zoe were so excited. So excited they couldn't use their inside voices in the car. We prayed for them to drift off to sleep but it was not meant to be.

Cordele is in Crisp County and is touted as the watermelon capitol of the world. It must be true. They have this huge slice of watermelon in front of the visitors center to prove it.


They also have this handy dandy Confederate Nuclear Missile located conveniently between the Krystal and the interstate. I mistook it for a rocket. I said, "Joe, I think that's a rocket!" and he said, "You would..."


And gobs of cotton fields.



Thomas was located at the Georgia Veterans Memorial State Park on the SAM Shortline. Too bad all those people stood between us and him. The line was UNBELIEVABLE.




No words can describe how excited they were but this picture does a pretty good job.



The conductor came over the speaker and asked all the kids to help get Thomas moving. They were to say, "Pull Thomas Pull!" Sam didn't understand why we were moving backwards, as evidenced by this little video.




After only a few minutes, we crossed Lake Blackshear. I had a "worst case senario" moment looking out and down at the lake all around us. As I planned underwater escape routes, I voiced my fears to Joe but as usual, he talked me down by explaining we were going too slow to derail into the water.


Sam seemed to be pondering the possibility of derailment, too.



Then he snapped out of it...


The kids loved Sir Topham Hatt but I told Joe that I thought he looked like a big penis. Joe said, "You would..." But really, you know he looks weird. Don't you wonder what we'd see if he removed his top hat?



They had a gift shop, storytelling tent, a crazy one man band, balloons with $12 price tags, lots of food, putt putt, a maze and jumpy houses...and this tent with all the train tables set up. It seemed to be one of the favorite spots. Why? Because it was free, that's why. After tickets for $20 a pop, no one wants to pay more.


We had a lot of fun with the kids. They had a a lot of fun with us. You just can't beat good, clean living and wholesome family fun.